"Two awkward cases suggest that the law in the emirates is unequally applied"

Suggest? I think most people already know that the arab peninsula is spectacularly backward. And was it not for the world's dependence on oil, there would be no reason to have to interact with them - they could have continued to live in the 7th century while the rest of us live in the 21st.

What's surprising about this story is not the two clear miscarriages of justice it contains, but the fact that it is even a story in 2010. Similar cases occur every year in Dubai and the UAE, just google "rape victim Dubai". Visit UAE-prison.com. Read up about Tioria Tiouli.

As a visitor to Dubai, whether a tourist or an expatriate worker, you are a second class citizen. The law is unashamedly clear about this. You have less rights than any citizen, you can never become a citizen, and you are essentially there on sufferance.

And if you are of muslim heritage (usually defined by your surname) then you can expect to receive harsher treatment for "moral"-related offences under the sharia law that is applied there. It doesn't matter if you don't practise Islam, or if you're a full-on atheist.

The UAE is not a democratic, secular country. It is an Islamic dictatorship. It may be a "benevolent" dictatorship, but that doesn't change its essential status, culture or legal system.

You, the expat/tourist, are NOT allowed to practice your religion in UAE. But, the Emirati IS FREE to visit religious institutions on his/her trip abroad. Item after item of double standards is to be expected.

I knew practising muslims in the UAE that drink. But they would only drink at home and have to be very careful in concealing their stash. The funny thing is, on a few trips in and out of Dubai, I've seen arabs donning their white robes and headgear board, and as soon as the plane is airborne, off comes the telltale clothing, and down go the shots of spirts.

Preface: Although I agree with many comments that are posted here, I do not agree with the generalization that discrimination/racism in the UAE is because of religion. I too, am a follower of Islam, just like the majority of the indigenous population in the UAE; but unlike many of them I haven't forgotten what my religion AND my parents have taught me; that all people need to be treated with respect and kindness. So please don't offend people like me (who respect other human beings and cultures) by using disparaging language for a religion that I deeply care about and respect. Let's not mix religion with society and culture; racism and discrimination, be it societal, legal or some other form, is a societal/cultural issue in the Gulf, and not because of religion.

Comment: Having grown up in the UAE (and lived there for 25+ years) and being of Pakistani origin, (a) I have experienced discrimination first-hand in the UAE and (b) I am not at all surprised on reading this article; for those who have lived in the Gulf, this should not come as a surprise.

From my perspective, the social/class structure in the UAE is this (and one's social significance decreases as one moves down this list):

(And I guess, somewhere between 3 and 4 is where people from the Far East would fit in.)

Unfortunately, it's a societal/cultural issue. They don't want to accept "outsiders" permanently. (As long as they come in just for the duration that they're needed for, it's ok). Yet they can't push them all out because (a) the local economy will come to a standstill and (b) the indigenous population is, generally speaking, neither capable nor willing to work in the private sector where the jobs are more demanding and pay less when compared to cushy government jobs.

Separately, there's a whole racial undertone in the society - "I am a watni (local) and you are a khariji (foreigner)" - and they treat people more on the basis of their nationalities than humanity.

Many expats in the UAE (and for that matter in the Gulf) go there with the view that they'll be there for a limited period of time, and that they will use this place as a launching pad or a pit stop to a better destination and hopefully a better life. This is why many expats from the UAE migrate onwards to Canada, the US, etc. Plus they know that no matter how long they live there, they will not be accepted as citizens, such as in most western countries, so they never adopt the UAE as their new homeland. Yes, they work there and live there, but they don't expect to be there for the rest of their lives.

I'll conclude by saying that there needs to a radical shift in cultural/societal thinking in the UAE (and the Arab world for that matter) for this situation to be corrected. The governments and the local population need to be more accepting and appreciative of the skills and cultures that the expats bring (and this goes for both official press releases and more importantly in every day thinking, dealing and policy making); and they need to treat them like fellow human beings, not like slaves or second or third rate citizens. Until this happens, I am afraid there will be many more articles like this one in the future.

SyedG: I could not agree more. The problem is not Islam itself but a corrupt society abusing Islam/sharia law to maintain the status quo.

Sharia law might have a bad press at the moment. But in the 8th century it codified formal property rights for women - about 5 centuries before Europe did.

Unfortuantely things not seem to have moved on much since then in the region of Islam's birth. Condeming the majority of the Gulf's people to live in fear of their monarch's hubris. A corrupted judicial system and clergy working to maintain their patrons power should be depressingly familiar to most history students, from whatever region of the world.

Part of the problem is that Arabic is still the language of the Koran as Latin dominated early Chrisitanity in the west. I know its part of scripture that it is the prefect word of Allah only in Arabic, but that's just another power game inserted by the human copists. The creator of the universe should be capable of multilingilism after all.

I'm predicting Malaysia/Indoneisa to take the lead as the centre of Islamic culture; and seeing the way the Gulf has handled it the sooner the better. Here's to the long overdue Islamic Enlightenment.

Anyone who's had the dubious pleasure of visiting the UAE will know that they treat their Pakistani and Bangladeshi 'guest-workers' as cattle. They do all the dirty menial work such as road and construction work. On a daily basis you read about them being run over by UAE citizens, killed, maimed etc and nobody cares.

Why?

Because the Arab world - the UAE, Saudi, the other Gulf states - is profoundly racist toward non-Arabs. It doesn't matter one wit if their guest workers suffer or die. They are worthless - ergo there is minimal loss if one or more happen to die.

They treat 50% of their own population - the women - as their men's property, so why should they care about non-Arabs?

In an Islamic court, a woman's testimony is worth exactly half of that of a man.

In addition to their odious religion, politically is a retarded feudal society where the sheiks and 'ordinary people' are measured by different yardsticks.

Their backwards religion, feudal society (roughly similar to Europe in the 12th century) makes news stories like this one entirely unsurprising - however offensive and disgusting it is to anyone who lives in the 21st century.

"abzs2k: come visit dubai and abudhabi and see the country,then we will know if what you are saying is true, jealousy is the factor."

Thanks for the invitation. I lived there for a year. In Jumeirah, in a large villa. Not nearly as large as the row of houses that belonged to natives mind you, but big enough. Back in 1998, when it was rumored that the foundation for the Burj-Al-Arab was unstable and the building was sinking.

So please don't bullshit about how well south-asian immigrant (read: Slave) labourers are treated. We all know that their passports are taken away (illegally, might I add) the day they land, so that they're tied into bondage. And I'm sure this is true for all the countries in the arab peninsula, not just the UAE.

Ofcourse, being the travelling enthusiast, I would like to visit the city of Mecca, but the backward inhabitants of the peninsula will not allow me to visit, due to of my lack of faith in "allah".

In these UAE countries, the people and government need to be on the same page in order to run successfully. Even if it is not a democracy, any sort of corruption should not be tolerated in a society. If the sharia law does not recognized drinking as acceptable, businesses should be in trouble for serving alcohol. It is clear that in this society, people can use their money to buy their way out of problems, such as the royalty member mentioned in the other situation. In order to be an appropriate punishment, the hotels should also be prosecuted for serving alcohol in the first place. Another conflict that comes out of the sharia law is who must follow it. Surely, foreigners do not apply to the same laws if they dont live in the country and aren’t under the same religious beliefs and laws. These cases show us that a corrupt government or society is hard to stand up against because social status plays an important role in their lifestyle and cannot be dealt with under the same process as anywhere else. I believe that because of cases like these, law and state should be kept separate from religion, in order to be fair.

@lardhi:
You are quite right that there is nothing wrong with manual labour. What I found horrific in Dubai and Abu Dhabi was that road workers in particular were killed by UAE motorists on virtually a daily basis - and nobody cared! The view clearly is that they are expendable. This racism, that non-Arabs have no worth or value, seems to permeate all Arab societies.

i for one will never visit a country that espouses any part of sharia law. This code is barbaric to the core. i do not know why anyone would willingly go to a jurisdiction where they can be subject to such arbitrary and unfair punishments.